What ground cover would smother out the weeds?

putting in ground cover in a weeded area will not be of any benefit.Smother or dig the weeds ou first. For suggestion on ground cover what is your location

Smother the weeds with newspaper, cardboard or landscape fabric, dig out and then plant groundcover.

after killing the weeds, my recommendation for ground cover would be pachysandra

https://www.gardenguides.com/77935-grow-pachysandra-ground-cover.html

We have a walkway that we used dead leaves in to keep the weeds down. They need to be replaenished from time to time, but we have enough leaves every fall/ winter to deal with that easily. Whatever you use, make sure to cut down or pull weeds first, then make sure you use a HEAVY layer of mulch to keep the weeds at bay.

A good 4” of mulch works for me and if you do get any stragglers they are very easy to pull out.

you will still have to remove everything.https://birminghamgardeningtoday.com/category/ground-covers/